Bow sling



Sept. 7, 1965 D. A. MORNEAU BOW SLING Filed April 24, 1964 INVENTORDONALD A. MORNEAU ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,204,626 BOW SLINGDonald A. Morneau, 66 West St., Winchendon, Mass. Filed Apr. 24, 1964,Ser. No. 362,434 Claims. (Cl. 124-23) This invention relates to a newand improved bow sling for improving the grip of the archer with respectto the bow and to prevent the bow from accidentally falling from thehand especially where a palm grip is utilized. The new sling is appliedto the handle or to the limbs above and below the handle, and comprisesin general a bifurcated strap of leather or some similar material, withthe bifurcations extending downwardly and being connected with respectto the handle or bottom limb below the palm rest if present, thusproviding a generally vertical aperture or slit through which the archerthrusts his hand to engage the handle of the bow and particularly withrespect to the palm rest therefor, so that even though the archer shouldrelax his grip he does not drop the bow, i.e., it is always lightly butpositively applied to his hand, and the sling is maintained in thecorrect position on the bow, i.e., generally parallel to the handle.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation illustrating the invention;

FIG. 2 is a View looking in the direction of arrow 2 on an enlargedscale;

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating the sling, and

FIG. 4 is a similar view which illustrates the holding member for thesling.

To illustrate the invention the same is shown as applied to a bow havinga palm rest but the invention is useful with other bows also in whichthe handle does not include a palm rest. In the present case the handleis generally indicated at and the palm rest at 12, and the referencecharacter 14 indicates the sight window. The two limbs of the bow may beof any construction desired and it is pointed out that of course thepalm rest 12 is on the belly and in FIG. 1 the string is notillustrated.

Referring now to FIG. 3 the handstrap is shown prior to being applied tothe handle. It is made of leather or any similar useful material andcomprises in general a pair of elongated divergent legs 16 and 18 whichare reduced at the portions 20 and 22 thereof and at the terminalportions there are provided apertures 24 by which these legs are lacedtogether as illustrated in FIG. 2 (see lace 26).

At the opposite end of the strap the same is solid, or one piece, as at28 and extends into a pair of divergent flaps 30 which are adapted toextend around the handle or limbs. These flaps are provided withapertures 32, 32 which are laced together as at 34. Between the flapsthere is a cutout portion 36 which receives the handle or limb, so thatthe upper end of the strap is securely fastened.

It is not necessary but it is preferred that the legs 16 and 18 shall becut out substantially on the irregular curves shown at 38 in FIG. 3,because this has been found to be more effective when the hand of thearcher is received in the slot 40 in FIG. 2 defined by the two elongatedlegs 18 and 16.

Referring now to FIG. 1 it will be seen that the grain side of theleather is inverted when the flaps 30, 30 are applied to the bow handleand this ensures that the portion 28 of the strap shall be directedupwardly toward the upper limb of the bow, thus causing the portion ofthe accompanying drawings 3,204,626 Patented Sept. 7, 1965 bow strap at28 to remain outstanding as in FIG. 1, with the legs 18 and 16 dependingtherefrom generally vertically. Also, the opening tends to remain opendue to the divergence of the strap legs 16 and 18.

Referring now to FIG. 4 there is shown a bottom strap generallyindicated at 42. This goes around the bottom limb of the bow or thelower portion of the handle. It

consists merely of an elongated strap as shown with a series of eyeletsin it at 44, 46 and 48. The eyelets at 44 are connected by lacing orother means 50 about the handle of the bow as shown in FIG. 1, leavingthe apertures 48 extending to the belly and then the cord or other means26 is laced through these three holes and connected to the lacing orforming a part of the lacing connecting the ends 20 and 22 to the legsof the strap together. This holds the lower end of the strap firmly tothe bow handle or limb but in loose flexible condition so that noimpedance is made to the ease of insertion of the hand of the archerthrough the slit at 40 formed by and between strap legs 16 and 18 andextending between tthe flaps 30, 30 and the strap 42. To facilitatelacing, slits 52 can be provided adjacent the eyelets.

The present invention is specifically advantageous in maintaining therelationship of the archers hand to the handle of the bow. Particularlyit allows the bow to move freely upon release of the arrow and thereforeeliminates arrow deflection at the side of the bow, resulting in muchgreater accuracy and ease of shooting. Furthermore, the presentinvention eliminates the forward, down motion of a loose bow grip.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do notwish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than asset forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. A bow sling for the handle of a bow comprising a bifurcated strapproviding a pair of elongated legs, means securing said legs together atthe free ends thereof, means securing the opposite end of the strap tothe bow adjacent the upper end of the handle, and means securing thebifurcated legs to the bow adjacent the bottom limb of the bow, wherebythe legs of the strap are held in position along and substantiallycontinuous with the handle in position to receive the hand of the archerthrough the slot formed by said bifurcated legs, giving free access tothe handle of the bow and connecting the hand of the archer to the bow.

2.- The sling of claim 1 wherein the legs are divergent.

3. The sling of claim 1 including means to maintain the legs slightlyspaced from the handle.

4. An archery bow sling comprising a strap, said strap including a pairof relatively elongated legs extending at angles with respect to eachother and being free-ended, and a pair of shorter flaps extending in theopposite directions from the legs, said flaps being secured about thebow adjacent the upper portion of the handle thereof, means securing thefree-ended elongated legs together at their ends forming a slot for thehand of the archer and means securing said secured legs at their ends tothe bow adjacent the bottom portion of the handle.

5. The archery bow sling recited in claim 4 said flaps are inverted whenapplied to the how a portion of the strap extends away from the whilebeing secured thereto at both ends.

wherein so that handle References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATESPATENTS 3,055,354 9/62 Gates 124-23 X RICHARD C. PINKHAM, PrimaryExaminer.

1. A BOW SLING FOR THE HANDLE OF A BOW COMPRISING A BIFURCATED STRAPPROVIDING A PAIR OF ELONGATED LEGS, MEANS SECURING SAID LEGS TOGETHER ATTHE FREE ENDS THEREOF, MEANS SECURING THE OPPOSITE END OF THE STRAP TOTHE BOW ADJACENT THE UPPER END OF THE HANDLE, AND MEANS SECURING THEBIFURCATED LEGS TO THE BOW ADJACENT THE BOTTOM LIMB OF THE BOW, WHEREBYTHE LEGS OF THE STRAP ARE HELD IN POSITION ALONG AND SUBSTANTIALLYCONTINUOUS WITH THE HANDLE IN POSITION TO RECEIVE THE HAND OF THE ARCHERTHROUGH THE SLOT FORMED BY SAID BIFURCATED LEGS, GIVING FREE ACCESS TOTHE HANDLE OF THE BOW AND CONNECTING THE HAND OF THE ARCHER TO THE BOW.